Broadcasting is the distribution of an audio and/or video signal that ultimately transmits to an audience. There are wide varieties of broadcasting systems, all of which have different capabilities. The smallest broadcasting systems are institutional public address systems, which transmit verbal messages and music within a school or hospital, and low-powered broadcasting systems which transmit radio stations or television stations to a small area. National radio and television broadcasters have nationwide coverage, using retransmitter towers, satellite systems, and cable distribution. Satellite radio and television broadcasters can cover even wider areas, such as entire continents, and Internet channels can distribute text or streamed music worldwide.
Traditionally, a video signal is transmitted in Standard Definition (SD) format according to the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) standard in the United States. Other SD formats include Phase Alternation Line (PAL) and Sequentiel Couleurs a Memoire (SECAM).
More recent, High Definition (HD) format is used to transmit a video signal, which provides higher resolution than Standard Definition (SD). For example, resolution formats include 720p, 1080i, 1080p, 2K, 4K to name a few. High Definition (HD) also includes Extreme High Definition (XHD) with a format of 4 x1080i/2x1080p and Extreme Definition (XD) at 1440p. These resolution formats convey lines of pixels in a specified vertical and horizontal arrangement, with the lines either interlaced (i) or progressive (p). Resolution is the degree of sharpness of an image as the number of pixels across and down on a display device.
A video signal transmitted in High Definition format is typically viewed on a display device that supports HD broadcasting. These display devices include for example, Personal Computer (PC) systems, High Definition Televisions (HDTV), Home Theater Personal Computers (HTPC), High Definition camcorders and projectors.
Currently, broadcasting systems fail to provide a high resolution High Definition format, such as 1080p. In addition, current display devices are not capable of providing more than one video signal in high resolution High Definition format, and furthermore, in real-time. Current display devices further lack the ability to illustrate more than one high resolution High Definition image concurrently on the same display device.
It would be advantageous to provide a system and methods of broadcasting a video signal in high resolution High Definition format, such as 1080p. Furthermore, it would be advantageous to provide a system and methods for broadcasting a video signal in high resolution High Definition format in real-time. It would also be advantageous broadcast a video signal in a high resolution High Definition format by combining two or more, or multiple, low resolution video signals for simultaneous display. It further would be advantageous to illustrate the video signals as two or more images concurrently on a display device.
There is a demand to simultaneously display two or more low resolution video signals in High Definition format, and in addition, in real-time. There is also a demand to illustrate more than one high resolution High Definition image on a single display device. The present invention satisfies this demand.